Bapi Hansda, the rising star of Odisha athletics, was eliminated in the mens 400m event of the 20th World U20 Athletics Championship as he finished 46th among 49 competitors who finished the race in Lima Peru on 28 August 2024. Hansda finished seventh in Heat-4 with a time of 51.26 seconds.

Jay Kumar, the other Indian competitor in the event, qualified for the final which is set to take place today. He finished third in Heat-6 and third in semifinal Heat-2, clocking 47.08 seconds and a personal of 46.96 seconds respectively. Jayden Davis (USA) emerged fastest both in the heats and semifinals with timings of 46.32 and 45.79 seconds respectively.

Hansda, a trainee of Bhubaneswar-based Odisha-Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre, was doubtful for the World U20 Championship due to dengue fever, but managed to reach Lima at the eleventh hour and compete. He is also scheduled to represent the Indian mens team in the 4x400 relay event tomorrow.

Earlier, Hansda, who hails from Basta in Balasore district, created history as became the first Indian to win a silver medal in the mens 400m hurdles at the Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 30 April 2023. This was the first major international competition for the Odisha athlete and he made it more significant by registering a personal best time of 51.38 seconds.

Hansda improved his 400m personal best to 46.90 seconds at the 22nd National Junior (U20) Federation Athletics Championship in Lucknow, UP on 9 March 2024. This was a meet record and fetched him the gold medal. He also captured the 400m gold medal with a new meet record 47.12 seconds at the 19th National Youth (U18) Athletics Championship in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh on 16 June 2024.

Hansda was selected to compete at the Asian U20 Athletics Championship in Dubai earlier this year in April, but missed the opportunity due to visa issues. It may be noted that Hansda started his career as a 400m hurdler and catapulted into the limelight, winning the gold medal at the National Youth (U18) Athletics Championship in Udupi, Karnataka on 12 March 2023.